


équilibre

by fish_wifey



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Love at First Sight, a speedrun as usual, a speedskATE so to say, he was a skater boy / she was a skater girl, skater au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22476709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fish_wifey/pseuds/fish_wifey
Summary: He was skater boy. She was a skater girl.In which Suguru falls for the girl of his dreams, but the girl isn't that easy to get.And in which Mika allows one whole boy into her heart, without skating away from him.And both of them learn to balance around each other.
Relationships: Daishou Suguru/Yamaka Mika
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	équilibre

**Author's Note:**

> fuck it, french title. I somehow chose the word without knowing what it meant, looked up its meaning, and boom; perfect fit.
> 
> Based on a bokuto, daishou kuroo skater fanart I saw on twit~ (the one where Daishou and Kuroo are looking/judging/laughing at Bokuto on a skateboard. if i find it, i will link it here)
> 
> And I remembered after 819 (2019) haikyuu day that I have it. 
> 
> So excited to have sugumika finally animated!!!
> 
> This is what I wrote on the side/as a warm up during me finishing up Hiss Hiss Kiss Kiss!? (I'll update final chapters soon).

Shaking his head at Bokuto’s antics, Suguru’s hand pushes off where it leaned on, and rolls backwards. Just in time before Bokuto falls. With any other stupid idiot, Suguru would have tried and do neat trick over his body. But given that Bokuto is Kuroo’s close friend, and Kuroo is already helping him up, Suguru opts out of being mean. 

A regular autumn day in Tokyo, the city’s colour were mostly grey, as the sky offered nothing else but different hues of it. The skate park was grey by default. A peaceful day. 

Skating towards the vending machine close buy to buy them all drinks instead, he notices a flash of colour. A wave of auburn hair. It doesn’t just catch Suguru’s eye. His entire attention and curiosity looks to a girl blowing a gum bubble, seemingly floating past. It interrupts the peaceful grey of the day, and chaos enters Suguru’s life.

He cranes his neck, leans backwards too much, and falls. His board rolls on without him on it, and sharp pains come from all over his arm, back and sides. Groaning, Suguru rolls to his side. Behind him, Bokuto and Kuroo come running. Figures Suguru’s earlier thoughts came back to destabilise his own ego and make him humble. Kuroo reaches out with a helping hand once more. 

Suguru can only look at the auburn hair falling over a mustard sweater, black shirt with green spots, and roller-blades stopping in front of him. There’s a black strap crossing from her right shoulder to her left hip.

“Are you the guys who teased my little brother?” The girl says, as Suguru is able to sit up and stand without Kuroo’s help. Bokuto, holding his own skateboard under his arm, is quick to speak the truth.

“No, we’re the guys who defended him. He’s new to it, right? We all started once.” Suguru picks up his skateboard, feeling bruised in his spirit, body, and pride. First introductions can’t be redone, and he could have made a so much cooler impact.

“Yeah, and those other guys aren’t hot shit themselves,” Kuroo adds, rubbing the back of his head. “Say, Bokuto. They went to that other skate-park, right?”

In typical Kuroo and Bokuto fashion, they turn to each other and detach from the conversation, starting their own among themselves. Suguru takes this opportune moment to step forward, careful not to trip over a random pebble or is own feet. 

“I can show you, if you like. That park and, the other boys.” His voice is smooth, confident, and Suguru lowers it for added effectiveness. The girl looks him over once, then nods. She skates backwards, making her skirt and hair flow in a way that utterly enthrals Suguru. He puts his skateboard down, gives his two friends a glance. He figures they’ll be fine without him, there in the evening. And he doesn’t need either of them stealing his thunder. 

Suguru puts one foot on his skateboard and follows the girl before leading the way. He can now see that the black strap at the front is part of a small black, flat bag sitting neatly on her lower back. It has a single silver zipper.

“My name is Suguru by the way. What’s yours?”

“Yamaka.”

“Ooo-kay, let me try again. My name is Daishou Suguru, what’s yours?”

She gives him a bored look, floating forwards before, placing her skates down harder to move forward faster. Suguru’s heart shrugs at the rejection, but he propels himself forward faster before the girl takes the wrong turn.

They skate side by side, and Suguru doesn’t take any more scenic routes. Breathing in the air, he looks up at the sky. He should suggest to his friends to do more random trips to nowhere, to just enjoy skating without trying to do flips all the time. It would also be easier for Bokuto, who is a beginner at it. 

“Mika.”

“Mh?”

“My name, it’s Mika,” the girl named Mika says, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. Suguru is perplexed by this display. Girls usually confuse him, especially cool and pretty ones. He smiles, saying her name once, then pushes his foot of the ground and keeping his board straight. The girl skates mostly next to him; she only moves before or behind him when there’s other people on the sidewalk. 

At a turn she comes to a full stop. Suguru knows the other skate-park is just around this block, but he stops behind her. 

“Cops,” she says, looking down. Suguru takes his board up, but there’s little Mika can do to hide her roller-blades. He takes her hand, pulling her back. 

“I didn’t want to distract and took the most straightforward route. Mind if we take a detour now?” Suguru asks, and Mika nods, rolling after him as Suguru walks and pulls. They make a big circle around the men of the law, Suguru back on his board. Making sure not to be seen or raise any suspicion, they find their way to the park as it comes in sight. 

There’s a group of guys standing by a row of vending machines. Mika gives Suguru a look, but he shakes his head. Not the ones. 

As the group of boys leave towards the park with skateboards and cans in their grasp, Mika rummages through her small black bag. Suguru hears keys and other things being tossed around. Then Mika pulls out a small wallet with coins. Her eyes turn determined to the vending machine.

“Are you thirsty?” Suguru laughs, following her on foot as she rolls forward. She buys a bunch of cans, and Suguru wonders just how much this girl intends to drink. Maybe she’s buying enough to bribe the park and turn them against this particular group of assholes. That would be a smart tactic, at least. Suguru starts to admire this girl and her arms full of cans, and stays silent as he walks into the park first. Trying to find these losers is easy.

They are the only ones standing at or sitting on a bench. Being loud, uncool, and not useful to society. Two of them loudly remark mistakes other skaters make, and the entire group laughs loudly when someone trips or falls, or doesn’t get a trick right. Suguru despises them. It’s one thing to make fun of your friends or your enemies. Quite another to get up out of bed every day and decide to be a massive jerk. 

“They think they’re better because they’re rich. Tch, I wear Adidas and I don’t behave like that.”

Mika gives him a strange look. “Are you with me or against me, skater boy?” 

Nonplussed, Suguru looks at her. She hands him one of the cans, then takes another into her own and shakes it. 

“Shake it, open it the smallest bit, and then throw,” she instructs, and Suguru doesn’t know what’s happening. His mind leaves his body and he does as this beautiful and terrifying girl says. He wasn’t beneath some trickery, but his style was more hidden. To remain a neat, trustworthy young man in the eye of society. After shaking the can and barely lifting the opening off it, he throws the can towards the boys’ feet. 

The soda explodes. In rapid fire motions, Mika shakes the cans, and Suguru pries at the opening the smallest bit before throwing it forwards. Soon the guys are drenched in soda. They’re also looking at the culprits.

“Come on, let’s go!” Mika says, turning on her roller-blades and making a quick exit. Suguru follows as quick as he can on his skateboard. They manage to pass by the police with ease. Behind them, Suguru hears and angry eruption. His heart beats like crazy. He remembers the movements of the police and manages to tap Mika’s shoulders. He re-routes them, having their pursuers hot on their trail. In the last moment, before the police would see them, Suguru steps off his board, takes Mika’s hand, and crouches into a nearby bush. Mika makes a half circle, her gasp taken by the wind. He gets her to hidden safety without a scratch on the girl.

As the group of assholes follow, they’re spotted by the police. Suguru keeps still, making sure that Mika is well hidden too. Her knees peak out from under her skirt as she crouches beside him, her roller-blades very still. 

Then there’s the sound of friendly police reprimanding the other youngsters. Mika taps Suguru’s shoulder in return, and while the police’s scolding continues, Suguru and Mika get away from the bush. Mika’s gear is a bit louder, but no one notices them. They hide away in a nearby side alley, able to stand up and breathe. 

“Don’t you think they’ll come after you and your brother harder now!?” Suguru asks, at last able to use his mouth. His hand leans on the wall, and he steps on one end of his skate board to get the other end up and into his waiting hand. “I thought you were just verbally tell them off!”

“That’s a problem future-me will have to deal with. Now-me is into revenge and instant gratification .”

Suguru shakes his head. “Oh my oh my… I will teach you some tactics to get rid of assholes like them, long term. And without creating a turf war!”

Mika looks up to him, her eyes still that of an angry woman, determined and ready. 

“Why, because guys handle things differently than girls? I thought violence would be encouraged by your kind?”

 _You kind_. Suguru tries his best not to feel hurt by that, or react to it. Instead he shakes his head.

“No, no. Underhanded tactics, turning a group of people against my opponents, remaining a perfect angel child in their eyes while I take my enemies apart… I am a specialist. Well, me and my friends. See, we operate as a team.”

Mika’s head turns to the side. In the curious silence that follows, Suguru takes a quick look around the corner of the alley way they’re standing in. Those idiots are still getting an earful. 

“You and your friends… They didn’t look like the type to do what you proposed.”

“Oh, Kuroo and Bokuto? Yeah, no. They’re kind and wouldn’t ever do anything bad. I have lots of friends, you know!” Suguru says, chest swollen with pride. “We hang at the bigger skating park in the west a lot. I am supposed to meet a couple of them tomorrow. Wanna come?”

He should feel uncomfortable under her scrutinising gaze. Unafraid, Suguru smiles it down, until Mika rolls herself into his space. He’s not sure if it belongs to her unrefined intimidation tactics to lean this close against him, or if she rolled too hard forward. All he knows is that her petite little, perfect manicured hand is resting on his shoulder, and she leans up as if she would want to kiss—

“Yes. I’m always open to learn,” Mika says, and Suguru’s mind interferes that he met this girl minutes ago. Although he threw shaken cans at a group of idiots with her, they don’t know each other well enough to be at _that_ stage yet. Kissing wasn’t an option yet. Maybe in the future. 

“S-sure, wanna exchange contact info or should we agree to a meeting spot?

Mika skates backwards, her head cocked to one side and her eyes elsewhere as she considers. Suguru holds his breath until she pulls out her phone. There’s a flash of colour and Suguru recognizes a Disney themed LINE app.

“Alright, let’s exchange LINE. Don’t send me creepy stuff though.”

“I would never,” Suguru says, opening the app on his own phone.

~~~

“I hope you’re hungry. We order lots,” Suguru greets her, holding the door open for her to walk through. “You have shoes with you? You can leave your skates with me.”

Mika hands them over, looking around the fast food joint Suguru brought her too. He had texted her this morning about the plans. Her Sunday would be spend getting to know some of his friends and skating around. The other tactics Suguru mentioned a day before didn’t appear on the day’s itinerary. Mika tries to find a group that could belong to Suguru, but she doesn’t see the crazy hair of the boys he was with the other day.

Without fear, she follows Suguru further in, past booths and large round tables.

Mika and her mother were both women who grew up in all boy-households. Mika had 2 uncles who she loved dearly, and who taught her music and how to skate. Just like her mother, Mika has two brothers. They’re younger than her, but eat as if they’re adults already. As such, Mika thought she was ready for what would follow the ‘we order lots’ statement. 

Facing a table of 16-17 year old teenagers, she finds out she has grossly underestimated Suguru. And she fears the future in which her brothers will become older, bigger, and even hungrier than they are now. 

Suguru, as soon as he closes in on the table, changes face. His hands wave so fast that he makes the napkins rise from the table, as he indicates for his friends to make room. Mika hates it when men sit with their legs wide. The boys, under Suguru’s instructions or because a girl is present, close ranks, their legs, and make a lot of room for her smaller frame. 

“Guys, this is Mika. No surname needed, just like Prince. Please be respectful, or she throw your drinks in your faces,” Suguru says with a wide, sly smile. Mika nearly steps on his feet for that introduction, but then Suguru introduces the guys to her. “Mika, these are my friends. The sly one with the freckles is Isumi, next to him is ‘One-eyed’ Hiroo. The mean looking guy is Numai, but he’s really sweet if he gets to know you. The wild hair belongs to Nao-chan, and the thick-brows over there is Seguro.”

Mika takes them in with the same flair of initial distrust that she’s given Suguru. In the same order as they are introduced, they come forward in varying depths of small bows. 

“Hey, nice meeting ya! Suguru has been raaaaving about you. By the way, you call me, Saki-chan!” Isumi says, eyes on Mika as multiple arms reach out to grab food that could feed another baseball team. Mika bows a little, careful to keep her head out of the danger zone. At her side, a boy with black hair covering most of one side of his face loads multiple packs of fries on his side. He waves a fry at her.

“And me Hiro-chan.”

“I hope you definitely won’t consider calling me ‘Numai-chan’. Nice to meet you,” a boy with short blond air, near invisible short eyebrows and a wide shoulder frame says from across from here. Mika counts three hamburgers, a side of fries, and nuggets.

The one called ‘Nao’ bows deepest, eyes closed. “Mika-san, pleasure to meet you. I’m Kuguri Naoyasu.” When he looks up Mika is a second late with her bow, as she notices a common feature among the boys on the table. Their names vaguely make her think of snakes. Which means she’s were she belongs, given her own last name.

“I guess I could go by the name of Segu-chan, if you’re willing to be that familiar with us, older sister!” A boy with a roundish face says, sipping at his drink.

In the presence of his friends, Suguru’s smile never wavers. He scold them here and there and retrieves an extra side of fries from someone because it was the last and Mika doesn’t have one yet. As he makes sure she has enough food too and doesn’t want for anything else, he sits down next to her.

“We got a couple of more that are part of our gang, but it’s very rare to have everyone around. Even when I try to introduce important new persons.”

Numai points one of his many burgers Suguru’s way, his eyes unblinking. “Taka is having a date somewhere, y’know. And Akama has cram school.” 

Suguru nudges her with an elbow. “And this one doesn’t do either at the moment.”

The boys joke around, shoving each other with pushes that aren’t hard or meant to hurt. Mika eats, keeping her cool. The boys eat fast and converse, everyone asking if Mika needs something or they can get her anything. She notices on entrance that they didn’t have skates or skateboards with them. She and Suguru had left theirs at the entrance, but she hadn’t paid attention to where Suguru brought her property. 

Once the food is gone and deserts are devoured, Suguru updates his friends about the soda can war of yesterday. Mika feels her face becoming warm at the attention, the laughs, the ooh-ing and the aah-ing. Sparkling eyes and open mouths face her when Suguru details the shaken cans thrown open, the fountain of sodas, the escape from the police. Mika feels her body warming up more and more as compliments shower her from all sides. Suguru looks proud, as if it had been his idea in the first place. 

“If those fuckers give you or your brother any more trouble, let Suguru know. We will help,” Numai says, and the half circle of boys nod. Suguru looks less than pleased. 

“Aaaalright let’s not plan any future fights okay? Let’s go,” Suguru says, getting up from the table. It prompts boo-ing and chicken noises, but also shuffling as they all follow after him.

Mika notices as the boys surround her a bit without being too close or threatening, and she watches as Suguru walks to the cashier. Mika blinks as she watches a boy she remembers at the skate park exchange words with Suguru. Wild black hair stands at every possible angle. A minute later, the boy who works here retrieves a bunch of skateboards, giving them all to Suguru. The boys around Mika move towards the exit, each getting their own board back. Mika follows picking up her own skates, and joins the boys outside.

“Let’s wait for the lady to exchange her footwear,” Hiroo says, already sliding side to side on his board. Kuguri is a bit off in the distance, slalom on the empty pavement. She ties her shoes together after they’re off and her skates are on, and then files after all the boys on their boards. Suguru sticks to her, doing tricks when she skates in front.

Pure freedom, the best she’s known. Loneliness was her second suit of armour which she carries each time she went to a skate park. None of her girlfriends had the guts to get their clothes dirty or their knees bruised. Mika used to wear knee-protection, but found hers too restricting to really have fun. The later she feels now from her chest to her hands, as she and Suguru sway in and out between his friends. They’re not too loud or too brash, always polite to stop and get off their boards if people appear on the sidewalk.

At the park, Kuguri drops a backpack and then hands out knee-protectors of the kind Mika didn’t know they existed. Suguru laughs at her expression.

“They’re commonly used by volleyball plays, but in the summer or when we do new shit, we tend to wear them.”

“Suguru-kun and I have expensive taste in jeans,” Hiroo says, pulling the black knee-pads over his faded light blue jeans. As soon as they’re on, he’s off, down a pipe. Kuguri leaves his backpack with Seguro’s, who’s drinking water. The two of them go down and to a concrete bump in the middle, circling it and talking. Soon, Mika finds herself alone with Suguru.

“Well, let’s have some fun shall we?” Suguru says, his eyes on her even as he goes down the park. Mika smiles and skates after him, gladly. Even when she and Suguru fool around at the half pipes showing off, Mika notices Hiroo being the most experienced and doing the coolest tricks, while Numai falls the most and gets laughed at, and helped up, by his friends. Whenever one of Hiroo’s flips mesmerise the groups and other bystanders, Suguru coughs.

Regaining Mika’s attention, he comes down a half-pipe, does a flip himself. She gives him three mock claps, her face cool as Suguru bites his bottom lip, looks down as his wheels continue to roll without his interference. Mika watches as a strand of hair falls into Suguru’s face and he has to brush it back where it came from. Three claps resound in her chest, her heartbeat quickens. 

Suguru brings his foot down to the concrete, skating on, and Mika decides to give chase.

They swerve in and out of the park, around it, around Suguru’s friends. Mika doesn’t do anything fancy herself, just liking to put one skate in front of the other and let them float her forwards, letting still air touch her face as if it was a breeze instead.

Suguru goes down where his friends aren’t, and Mika follows him. Without much protection, she’s ever careful of the drop. She likes to cover herself with cute and normal band-aids, but skinning her knees in front of Suguru isn’t in her to-do list today. It’s pretty secluded here; the noises of the rest and the many wheels scraping and rolling over metal and stone fall into the background, echoing upwards and not towards them. 

“Ever tried the board?” Suguru asks, as he puts one foot and his weight down one side of his skateboard. His other foot is near the other end, as it reaches skywards. He tries to turn without much success, and so Mika skates backwards to come into his view and reply.

“A couple of times. I always fall as soon as one foot is on it and the next reaches up. I’m terrible and it’s quite painful,” Mika explains, pushing herself backward, getting the worst/best view of Suguru’s face as he smiles. It’s so warm, less sleek and superior than what he first looked like. Mika hates to admit it, but he’s handsome enough to fall for.

“When I started, all I did was crash. My mom didn’t want me to keep the board when I came home with a nosebleed. Also, those? They’re 10 times scarier,” Suguru says, pointing to Mika’s skates. She’s rounds him, making his head turn to follow. He still can’t get the board to turn beneath him, and he brings the other end back down. As his feet stand stable atop the wheels, Mika shrugs her shoulders.

“Do you fall back a lot?” Mika asks, doing the only ‘trick’ she knows; skating forward again, she lifts one leg up, continuing to skate rolling on the other foot solely. She twists the uplifted one.

Suguru takes forever to answer. Mika rounds him twice, keeping her balance with one leg lifted. Suguru doesn’t just look at her leg or her skirt; he looks her up and down, an appreciative sort of nod following before he replies.

“On my ass. All the time. Gave up on it and returned the skates to our buddy Takahiro. He is incredible on skates. Truly flies through the air. I wish you could have met him today.” Without stepping off, Suguru pushes his knees forward, dropping his body downwards as he squats on the board. Mika is impressed with; the board hardly moves sideways under him. It’s that kinda body control she never mastered.

Mika pushes her skates against the concrete, rollerblading circles around him. She likes to make Suguru’s head turn as her skates take her behind him.

“Does he ice skate?”

“Takahiro? Not that I know off.”

“I started with that. I love winter, the cold. When my father took me to an ice rink, I fell in love with skating. To make turns and loops. After a couple of winters, during junior high school, my classmates made fun of my thighs. I was getting pretty strong, had a tight core. During that time I started to wear those longer skirts reserved for goth-y and scary girls. Just because some assholes had an opinion about my muscly thighs.” 

Mika doesn’t know why she tells Suguru this. His head drops low, and Mika slows her pace.

“In the first summer vacation I started to roller-skate. Stuff I did before too, but much more in earnest. Not trying to do tricks like you guys. Just getting from point A to point B, fast. Rolling down hills, arms up to my side. The same freedom and serenity and adrenaline that I feel on the ice.”

“What other people say doesn’t matter one bit. You could probably crush a fruit between your thighs now,” Suguru says, staring at Mika’s eyes when she’s in front of him. “Being like everyone else is so boring.”

“It is. This hobby isn’t.”

“Definitely not,” Suguru cries out, laughing. When Mika is behind him, he asks quickly, “You alone a lot?”

“Most of the time. I like my family, my neighbours. I work well with the quiet people at my school, but they have friends outside of the classroom or outside our building. It doesn’t matter,” Mika says, bored of making rounds and doing figure 8’s instead. She feels her skirt lifting the tiniest bit, but not necessarily Suguru’s eyes on her. 

“Yeah, I figured,” Suguru says, careful as he gets his feet to the ground in front of him as he sits down on his board. The comment should sting, but Mika guesses she wears her loneliness like armour, for everyone to see. Suguru is the opposite. She didn’t need to meet his friends to know that. He’s open, jovial, friendly and helpful.

Mika doesn’t ask why she introduced him to all his friends. Not yet.

~~~

Having several friend groups makes sure the teasing never stops. Suguru makes a face throughout the day. From meeting Bokuto and Kuroo, later Yaku and Lev. The last two Suguru isn’t super close with, and so the unbelieving words and stares of a possible girlfriend in Suguru’s future sting harder. Bokuto is the only nice one, but his tip-giving on how to seal the deal and make Mika Suguru’s girlfriend is just unnerving.

It’s been two weeks and Suguru has thought about it a lot, without letting any of it be too obvious when he’s with Mika. She’s too cool, her eyes always elsewhere. Surely she doesn’t notice his growing crush.

When he meets his large group of friends, his crush is the main topic. They ask about his chats with her, the calls they do after dinner sometimes. What he said, what she said. Isumi and Kouji are the worst; they circle him as if he was planet earth. Isumi the sun, bright and questioning, loud and punchy. Kouji the moon, silent in his snarky comments, saying ‘oh’ with a mock voice when Suguru gives them little details. Kazuma tells him to just confess he likes her. 

The only person who doesn’t come for Suguru is Naoyasu, the youngest member. 

After meeting them in the park for school stuff and sadly no skating, Suguru goes to center in his neighbourhood. His mom wants him to pick something up that she forgot. He has to go past the sport’s court, and he looks inside when he hears familiar sounds of volleyball. 

Daichi, Yuuji, Kaname and Kenji are all there. Seeing that they’re doing drills, Suguru picks up what his mom forgot. He bows to her colleagues, makes small talk, inquiries about family members and all the things that make him seem good and sweet and in their eyes. 

On his return, the sports section of the center seems more silent, and Suguru is lucky enough to catch his four other friends during a break. He removes his outside shoes at the door and enters, sneaking in and not gaining much attention as he approaches his friends for a surprise visit. Wakatoshi and Shunsuke don’t appear anyway, probably having cram school.

Sadly Yoshiki is there instead, a friend of Kazuma’s.

“How’s the love life going?” Yoshiki asks, his smile lopsided, his eyes calculating. Suguru tsk’s at him. Towada Yoshiki and his band of hoodlums were everything Suguru used to be in junior high. Rowdy, perceived as a bad news. When Suguru found out how easy it was to fool adults and make his appearance and manner pleasant to gain goodie points, Yoshiki had shown him that same when they met. They weren’t on bad terms, but Yoshiki was worse than Kouji and Isumi combined.

Especially outing Suguru’s most recent private trouble to the last fort where he thought this news wouldn’t reach. Daichi and Tetsurou were friends, but Tetsurou had no need to gossip. Apparently, incredibly, Kazuma did.

“Whaaat, Daishou-san!? What’s this news I haven’t heard of yet through my usual channels?” Futakuchi Kenji pouts, swinging his water bottle sideways as Suguru.

“It’s none of your business. And what usual channels?” Suguru asks, assured Kenji wouldn’t tell him. Knowing becomes less import as Terushima Yuuji swings an arm around Suguru’s shoulders and wrestles him down to the floor and into the circle. Suguru sighs, made to reveal how he met Mika and what happened on that faithful day.

“Kuroo hadn’t said anything,” Daichi says, his eyes kind and less of a tease in general than the rest.

“And how come you haven’t made moves on this amazing girl? She sounds perfect! Too bad she doesn’t have any girlfriends to introduce to me though,” Yuuji laughs, immediately kicked by Daichi. Suguru sighs, shaking his head.

“It’s not that easy guys. Because she’s so cool I don’t want to fuck things up,” Suguru says, uneasy to admit that his pride and how people perceive him is more important than getting over his fear and doing something about this lasting crush. He thinks day and night about Mika, a fact he’s told his closest friends. This group, the people whose hobby—no, life—was volleyball, weren’t supposed to know. Suguru likes them enough to share private things with. But after he quit volleyball in favour of other hobbies, he’s felt a drift.

Now he was being held ransom, arms slung around his shoulders from both sides and different people, questioned on everything.

When they’re called back from their break, Suguru is happy to leave. It’s been like this with all his friends.

On his way back, Suguru looks at his LINE chat with Mika. They had talked about favourite and least favourite food, a topic Suguru started because he wanted to get to know her. Possibly ask her out on a real date, just the two of them. See how it goes. 

Mika had listed quite a few things, making his brain come up with ideas. If Suguru was good at something, it was planning outings. Holding the phone to his lips, he looks up to the stars, giddy already.

He was really having it bad for her. 

~~~

The next Friday, Suguru intends to ask if she has anything to do this weekend. After dinner, post-bath, hair still damp, Suguru calls her on a whim. When she picks up, he makes sure it is convenient for her. Mika tells him that things look roughly the same on her side, except that she has a towel wrapped around her hair and does her nails.

“You guys into that? Nail varnish?” Mika asks. In the silences, Suguru either hears a piano playing or Mika listens to piano music in her room. Focusing on her question first, Suguru answers in the positive.

“We all tried it. Kazuma, Isumi, Kouji and Naoyasu all have sisters. Older and younger. We have been treated to many spa days, facial masks, and manicures. Kouji’s older sister runs a nail salon too. Maybe you know it,” Suguru says, continuing telling how all boys had black nail varnish for one day. “Why, you wanna paint my nails?”

“Mhhnnn that would be fun. I was just asking.”

“No real reason?”

“For me, yes. Not for you to know though,” Mika says, her tone cool as usual. Revealing nothing. Suguru doesn’t push it, knowing that girls may have their secrets. Lying on his bed, towel on his cushion, Suguru puts one foot over the other, looking as his bare toenails.

“Generally I think hygiene is important. Some guys just wash their face and their body. It shows. They don’t care about skincare or how their hair looks like, and mock the vanity of girls. Meanwhile, some could use a tweeze once every two weeks.”

“Right!? It’s the same at my school. Some guys have the ugliest eyebrows or greasy hair. Ugh,” Mika says. Suguru wishes, for the seventh time in three weeks that he’s known Mika, that she’d gone to Nohebi. They could skate to school every day. He’d be her friend. As much as he feels like they’re friends now, something hotter and more bothered eats at his guts, claws its way up to his throat, digs into his skull.

Such as how Mika’s hair always looks healthy and perfect. How her skin always smells so nice and fragrant when they meet. She never uses too much perfumes, and as she counts up what shower gels and body butters she uses, Suguru can practically smell her in this room.

Inhaling deeply, Suguru asks her what she does this weekend.

“Mhnn well tomorrow we got school. Afterwards my mom has a few chores to do for me. My dad gives violin practice at our house later on, so I usually flee the house to the skate park with my little brother. By the way, those suckers never gave us any trouble again.”

Suguru grins, knowing quite well that his friends had taken turns to keep an eye out. He had told Mika that she and her brother could always come to their usual hangout, even if it was a bit further away from Mika’s home. Maybe he should invite them both over tomorrow. It’s on his lips, too.

“Say, your meet-ups. Could you ask Takachiho-kun if he’s free? My little brother wants to learn rollerskating, and I’ve told him about Taka-kun’s tricks.”

“Yeah, we can meet up! He’ll be there,” Suguru says, a plan forming in his mind. He swallows the question of asking Mika out, knowing that he can’t tell any of his friends about this conversation and his not-even-there-attempt. “I will text him later and make sure he’s open to teach a little class. If you’re interest to learn too—”

“Oh no, not me. Manabu really hates for us to skate together, so I have to be somewhere else and out of sight.”

 _Perfect_. “That’s cool. I mean! We will figure something out,” Suguru says, as if he doesn’t know exactly what he would offer. “We can also work on your fake smile a bit more.”

The laughter that follows is light and sweet, making Suguru’s chest swell and fill with joy too. In the past week, using face-calls, Suguru has taken it up to himself to teach Mika some social skills that earned him the nickname King of the Snakes. He didn’t care what people said about it; he never had any bad experience after all. And he didn’t trick people for riches or to gain anything apart from upholding his good rep in the neighbourhood and at school. Mika sucked at fake smiling through; she always tended to make it too obvious how she didn’t mean it. Hearing her pure smile was everything though.

“Sure sure, snake-sensei. Tell me the time and I’ll bring myself and Manabu over.”

“Alright, princess,” Suguru says, the nickname slipping off the tongue with such practiced ease that for a second, his brain doesn’t catch up to what he just did. When it does, his heart sinks. Suguru sits up abruptly, not opening his mouth to stutter and apologize. He gauges Mika’s silence, waiting for her reaction. It wasn’t the worst that could have come out of his mouth on accident, at least.

“Good night, sweet prince.”

The call ends, and Suguru crashes backwards again, unable to believe his ears. This is something he could share with his friends. Keeping the phone to his chest, he decides to keep it all to himself.

~~~

Mika raises and eyebrow at him, keeps it raised when she turns to Suguru. She casts another long look at the entrance, the sign, the people she can see on the other side of the window. Look at how they’re dressed, the waiters, the interior. This place isn’t fast food, isn’t a family restaurant. It looks chic.

Her family was upper middle class, and she had seen and heard enough evidence to know Suguru’s was too. Still, while he wore a brand on his tracksuit and sneakers, and Mika’s jumper was pretty too—this wasn’t what she’d envisioned when Suguru said ‘let’s grab a snack’.

“You said you liked curry, right? This place is good and has a private section too,” Suguru says, as easy in his shoes as everywhere he went. He holds his board to his hip, and Mika notices his fidgeting fingers. Notices them stopping and holding tight to the board right away. She looks up, a curious glance into the face that she daydreamed about at school all week. All Friday night.

“Let’s see if it’s as good as you say, then,” Mika says, unafraid of challenges thrown her way. She watches Suguru’s face light up, his shoulders less tense, his step bouncy as he goes up to the door and opens it for her. Small details others wouldn’t notice. Suguru was good at hiding, good at faking, good at keeping up a straight and smiling face. Nonetheless, Mika was looking harder than others would. Stepping inside into the fancy restaurant, she’s aware of the feelings she developed.

Yesterday she’d hope Suguru would call, to make her seem less desperate. During their calls, she always asked questions. Looking for faults. Finding that Suguru was perfect for her. She steered him to more privacy, but now sees that the field was played by both. Proposing Takachiho to teach Manabu, leaving her little brother with this friendly group, watching him already in awe with the older kids… it’s what she and Suguru both had wanted, somehow.

One wavelength. Another point for the pro/con list she upheld mentally. Tallying the ultimate question; if Daishou Suguru was boyfriend material.

“This way,” Suguru says, never walking in front of her unless for guidance. Always shoulder to shoulder, or letting her go first. He wasn’t haughty, not snobbish. He had a good sense of style. Mika’s latest inquiries thrown in offhandedly in conversations both in text, call, and in meet-ups, had been to see if Suguru was a feminist like her. So far, so good. Mika likes to be pampered a little bit, to have a boy be a gentleman. Suguru was tipping the scales hardcore to the pro-list.

They walk after the host down a hallway, he opens a door with a room number. Mika peers inside before going in, towards a low table. She picks one of the seat cushions to sit down at, as Suguru takes the other side.

“Do you want to look at the menu first?” He asks her, and Mika’s eyes don’t need to be searching to see the tip of his ears blushing.

“Yes, please.”

She likes to look at menus. She likes it even more to peer over the menu and catching Suguru looking at her. 

She likes how they both have the same smile when their eyes meet.

Afterwards, Suguru insists he brings her home. Given the evening hour and the creeps that can be on the street, Mika allows it. They skate on the sidewalk, with Suguru stepping off his board when it becomes to crowded. He shields her whenever he feels it necessary, and every now and then, Suguru’s hand finds Mika’s.

He’s even taller on the board, Mika notices now. Her skates add length to her too.

Rounding a corner, she asks Suguru as nonchalantly as possible why he introduced her to his friends. At first, Suguru shrugs his shoulders. Just cause. This being not explanation enough, Mika skates a bit faster, comes in front of him. She has seen his eyes catching the flow of her hair and skirt when she speeds up, and enjoys it a lot when she looks over her shoulder to watch his eyes dip down and up.

“Because I like you!” He blurts out, foot bouncing hard off the sidewalk so he can level with her. They float on, on a roll, looking at each other without saying anything. Mika nods. She looks forward, needing to figure out how this makes her feel. When she continues to say nothing, Suguru doesn’t seem to take it too hard.

“Bokuto, a friend of mine, has a couple of girls who would like to meet you, if you want by the way. They’re always looking for new skater girls in their gang. One of them, be careful if you have rice balls or any other food within her reach. She can swallow whatever, in seconds.

“I’m cool with that,” Mika says, skating close enough to Suguru to grab his hand; he hides it in his jeans pocket, trying to look cool. He does, but even more so when they hold hands together. “I don’t have many friends, and none of them I’d need to introduce to you.”

They reach Mika’s. Without loosening the hand-hold, Suguru turns around on his board, then steps of it. Like this, Mika is still small in height in comparison. Still, it makes it easier for Suguru’s neck when his head bends down to kiss her on the cheek, then the nose, and as Mika hasn’t inched away from him, on the mouth. The kiss is gentle and sweet, like the person who gives it.

“Can I be your boyfriend?” Suguru asks, his eyes open in wonder and hope. Mika nods, unable to hide the smile this time. 

“I’m cool with that,” Mika grins, letting Suguru kiss her hand goodbye. 

~~~

Mika is the type of girl who holds the ‘we ride together’ concept in high regards. Even though the facts are that they’ve skated half of Tokyo now, holding hands here and there and going on occasional dates, Suguru is still in awe that he managed to become Mika’s boyfriend. As soon as she completely warmed up to him, her smiles and suggestions reach him every day. If they can’t meet up, Suguru makes sure to call her every night, but Mika is equally eager to text and ask him how his day was. 

He enjoys it the most if they skate silently side by side, or if they talk about the most nonsense things as they take a break for ice cream. When they stand still for too long, Suguru feels on edge.

Just like now.

Sitting on a bench in the park, Suguru has his legs out in front. He can’t keep them straight, because Mika would slide off. She sits on his lap, her legs hanging off the side and off the end of the bench where they sit. She has her arms around Suguru’s neck, so she might not slide and only be surprised. Suguru can smell Mika’s perfume, a sweet and not so overwhelming scent that fits her and the season perfectly. He has his hands deep in his pants pockets, balled. Suppressing the nervous tick to bop his knee up and down. Staying absolutely calm even though they’re not talking or doing much. Mika doesn’t appear anything different. She’s looking and typing away on her phone, her face gently pressing against his.

“We could go for a milkshake,” Suguru says, rubbing his chin into Mika’s shoulder when she doesn’t respond. 

“Mhhh, where?”

“If you have a place you like, we go there. Otherwise, there’s a fast food place around the corner.”

Mika’s feet swing forwards, backwards, one after the other in a beat only she knows how to sing. Suguru wishes he could fidget with his hands or tap his heels, but Mika would notices. So the buzzing under his skin, the thrill of having a girl sitting in his lap, remains without being able to release.

When Mika’s attention doesn’t avert from the screen, Suguru squints his eyes in thought. Then his teeth bite down on her neck, making her squeal. She laughs as her hands rain down on him. Nothing in comparison to roughhousing with his friends, until she uses her nails that is. Suguru laughs, finally able to release a bit of tension.

Mika’s arms re-settle back around his neck, her smiling mouth descending on his with a little vengeance in her heart. French kissing was something they’ve been doing lately, and each time, it makes Suguru burning up. He loops his hands around Mika, linking his fingers at her hip when she deepens the kiss. It’s a heavenly bliss, and so close to the feeling of flying through the air with his skateboard. The only difference is, that with kissing Mika, he never lands back on earth.

**Author's Note:**

> any sugumika request, send them my way! Either in the comments here or on twitter. Can be public, can be in the dms. I also have tumblr/anon active but I hardly check that site any more ;v;
> 
> I'm also super interested to try out mikakuroshou sometime soon~


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